


the ballad of the dead prince

by fenwick



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Light Angst, Loki is dead, No Slash, References to Norse Religion & Lore, im at a loss for tags over here, lore friendly i think, this is sad but also good and valid, uh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-09 22:06:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14724434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fenwick/pseuds/fenwick
Summary: The snap of a neck and the crash of the waves hitting the rocky cliffs of Norway shift together in harmony to make quite a lonely song indeed. The song for the dead prince.





	the ballad of the dead prince

The snap of a neck and the crash of the waves hitting the rocky cliffs of Norway shift together in harmony to make quite a lonely song indeed. The song for the dead prince.

But it should be over, the dead prince’s song. It’s not over yet, though. Not anywhere near it. The waves crash against the cliffs, again and again, and the mist covers everything. The field of endless green shivers in the wind. How long has he been standing here? He’s definitely standing *here* now. On some sort of cliff...face. He’s been here before. Is this…? Yeah...something about Hela, and then-

Wait. Thanos.  
...  
Oh, right. Well, shit.

“I’m dead.” Loki Odinson speaks to the crashing waves and the sea of rippling green grass. The waves don’t answer. The grass keeps rippling. “And this is purgatory.” He scans the horizon ahead of him. 

“It’s not, Loki.” A voice breaks the loud silence.

He knows who's behind him without even looking. 1000 years of living with that stupid voice will do that to you.

“This is purgatory and my dad is here with me.”

“I told you, Loki. It’s not. Turn around.” Odin calls out from behind him.

“Why should I?” 

“Are you really going to spend the rest of eternity staring at the ocean?”

“Don’t try me, old man.” Sometimes Loki hates himself for being such a jerk to the only family that he’s ever known, time and time again. This? Not one of those times.

Somehow, Odin laughs at this. A genuine laugh. That’s not the intended reaction.

“Well, come see me and your mother when you’re ready then.”

“Mom? Wh-” That gets him to turn around. And when he does, the shine of the gold reflecting off the cold, burning sun in the sky blinds him momentarily. 

The towers of marble and gold reach into the tinted blue sky above. The golden city is framed by an endless rainbow, high in the clouds. Moss creeps up the sides of the city, and he feels calm somehow. Unburdened.

“Valhalla.”

Now he’s in the center of the shining city. Did he walk all the way here without remembering? He doesn’t care how he got here. His people, the murdered Asgardians that he failed to save, are walking through the town square. The fountain in front of him flows, never-ending. It looks like satin.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Mom?” She’s next to him now. “Oh, God, mom-” He hugs her without even thinking, and suddenly he’s laughing and crying and burning. She strokes his hair. God damn it. He missed that.

She’s laughing too, now. “One thousand years with you, and you had to die before I could get you to laugh, huh?”

He laughs, but it’s a sad laugh, choked with the sudden realization. She wipes his tears with her sleeve.

“So I’m really dead, huh?”

“I think you already know the answer to that, my son.” She’s right, as always.

“Then what now?”

She sighs, in a thoughtful sort of way. “What do you want now?”

Loki thinks that’s a pretty loaded question.

“I don’t know.” Wait. “Where’s my brother?”

“Saving the world, as usual.” The words and tears stop for a minute, after that. The silence is loud and roaring in his ears once again.

“I…” Not ready to say it. Not yet. It hurts too much.

“Yes, I know you miss him. We all do, Loki. Don’t worry. Someday, he’ll end up here too. Might take a while. That brother of yours has always been a fighter.”

“Yeah.” 

Silence. The fountain flows, never-ending.

How do you say all the words that you’ve longed to say one last time to the one person you never got to say goodbye to? It’s easy for Loki, just this once. Frigga knows what he means to say even if he never really knows how to say it. And he knows this. So, he stops talking. A different kind of conversation takes place for a moment, one that only Loki and Frigga could ever understand.

“Your father is waiting up for us. We should head home.” A break in the silence.

Oh right. Odin. 

“It’s ok. I know how you feel about your relationship. And so does he, you know it. Just go talk to him, Loki.”

“Mhm.”

“Don’t give me that. Come on, let’s go.”  
...

 

In the distance, the waves crash. The grass flows as the tide does. And eternity begins again.


End file.
